In The Stars
by MarinePixie
Summary: As a child Lux Madigan had grown up listening to stories about a madman in a blue box known simply as 'The Doctor'. Lux always thought that the Doctor was just something conjured up out of her Nanny's imagination until the said madman turned up at her house during the midst of the kitchen being destroyed, knowing secrets about Lux that she didn't even know existed.
1. Chapter 1

_An eight year old Lux Madigan fidgeted into her seat as her hair was braided into plaits for bed, she didn't see why she had to have her hair in braids. But Nanny always insisted on the braids and Lux knew that Nanny always knew best. However it didn't mean that Lux liked it although she knew better than to argue with Nanny. Trying her best to stay still Lux played with her hands as she scrunched up her little face, Lux didn't care about her hair in the slightest. Nanny could shave if off for all she cared. All Lux wanted was to get into bed, have Nanny tuck her in and then tell her another story about the madman with the flying blue box. There was nothing more Lux loved then story time with her Nanny as she had the best stories, she had such a wild imagination that Lux always got so caught up in them as Nanny's stories always seemed to come alive when she was telling. The best stories were always about the Doctor. That's what Nanny called the madman with the flying blue box. The Doctor was never more real then in Nanny's stories and Lux loved hearing about his adventures in space as he battled cybermen, the daleks. They were always so rich and vivid, full of details and there was nothing more that Lux looked forward to then storytime with Nanny. It was the most exciting time of her day._

_"Nanny… Hurry!" Lux whined._

_"I will do no such thing Lux! I will take my time braiding your hair and unless you want me to start again then I suggest you hush child and stop your fidgeting." Nanny scolded and Lux pouted as she didn't want her Nanny to redo her hair as that meant it would taken even longer for her to get her story about the doctor. Lux hated her long blonde hair and would much prefer to cut it all off but Nanny wouldn't allow that. Nanny said that the only way Lux would be allowed to cut her long golden hair was over her dead body. "Don't worry child, The Doctor and his adventures aren't going anywhere, after he all he does have time and space at the touch of his fingertips."_

_ "Okay Nanny." Lux quietly mumbled as she tried her best to patiently wait for Nanny to finish._

_"There, all done Lux." Nanny finally replied after what seemed like forever and Lux jumped out of her seat and rushed over to her beg, eagerly jumping onto the puffy princess bed that belonged to her and dove under the covers. Scrambling through the heavy duvet until her head came out on top of the bed and Lux settled herself into bed and eagerly waited for Nanny to join her. Eventually Lux's Nanny made her way over to the bed and sat down in the empty space on the bed which Lux had saved for her. It was Nanny's special place where she would always sit and Lux would snuggle in close to her Nanny._

_"Story time Nanny! I want a story about The Doctor!" Lux squeaked._

_"I see my little firefly, well then I shall tell you a story about The Doctor…"_

* * *

Lux Madigan stifled a yawn as she walked up the driveway towards her house, it had been a very long day and she was very much looking forward to getting indoors and relaxing for a bit. Lux had spent most of the morning studying in the library for an exam she had next week, followed by lunch and an idle walk in the park with some college friends before running a few errands. It had been a somewhat productive yet boring day but the eighteen year old girl was looking forward to coming home. Upon reaching the front door Lux crossed over the threshold and made inside the home she had lived inside her entire life. Removing her jacket, Lux hung it up on the banister of the staircase along with her bag before she turned to the other bag she had brought back home with her. Opening it, Lux pulled out the photograph of her and Nanny, which she had picked up this afternoon after dropping it off to get reframed two days ago after she crashed into the hallway table because she had been running down the stairs. Nanny hadn't been impressed and had lectured Lux about how many times she had told her to not run down the stairs over the years. At the time Lux had just laughed but later she had felt bad because she had broken the frame of Nanny's favourite picture of the two of them.

"Nanny, I'm home…"

Glancing at the newly fixed photograph Lux couldn't help but smile as she stared at the picture of her and Nanny, it was taken about twelve years ago when Lux had been six. Her little arms were wrapped tightly around Nanny's neck and the two of them were grinning broadly. Miranda Jones or Nanny as Lux referred to her despite the fact that she was barely forty-five and not old enough to be a grandmother. Lux called Nanny that particular name as a term of endearment as she was the one person who Lux had, she had never had parents just Nanny and that was good enough for Lux. Speaking of Nanny, Lux realized that she had got no response from her and she couldn't hear the sound of country music playing on the radio which was slightly odd as Lux had grown up listening to country music as Nanny had adored it and was constantly playing it. Now it could have been due to the fact that Nanny had gone out but ever since Lux could remember, Nanny had always been there when she had gotten home. Anyone else would have thought nothing of it but this weird, something was wrong. The house was never this quiet, there was always something wrong. Lux slowly made her way further into the house, poking her head into the living room which was empty followed by the kitchen and there was nothing.

"Nanny? Nanny are you home? It's me…" Lux called out and yet again there was nothing, just silence and Lux was going to leave until she heard a noise coming from upstairs. It wasn't a quiet noise but rather a loud one and slowly Lux began making her way up the stairs calling out for Nanny every so often but there was still no answer. By the time Lux reached the top of the stairs she could hear a loud noise coming from the room that was furthest down the hall; Nanny's room. Quickening her pace, Lux reached the end of the hall and opening Nanny's bedroom door Lux was surprised at what she was seeing. Half the room had been turned upside down and some of the floorboards had been ripped. Lux found Nanny wildly running around her room, her brown hair all over the place and a panic look in her brown eyes. "Nanny?

"Lux you shouldn't be here." Nanny said in a breathless manner as she grabbed something out of the floorboards and rushed to her feet and made her way over to Lux.

"Nanny! What's going on? What is wrong?" Lux demanded as never before had she ever seen Nanny like this. Nanny was the kind of person who was constantly level-headed and never got flustered over anything so something really bad had to be wrong for Nanny to be so worked up. Lux could see the panic in Nanny's eyes, whatever was going on really scared Nanny and now Lux was scared despite the fact that she had no idea what was going on.

"You can't be here Lux, you need to get out of here right now Lux!" Nanny stated as she grabbed Lux's hands and attempted to pull her out of the room but Lux wasn't having any of this. She refused to move until she knew what was going on. Nanny was the only family that Lux had ever known and whatever problem or trouble that Nanny may be in, then it was Lux's problem too as she wasn't going to let Nanny go through any of this alone after everything that Nanny had done for her since she was a small infant. Whatever it was Lux would help Nanny deal with it.

"Nanny I'm not going anywhere until you tell me what's going on!" Lux demanded.

"Lux your in danger here which is why I have to get you out of here before it's too late!" Nanny said in a very stressed out tone of voice and Lux hadn't been expecting that. Lux didn't understand why on earth she was in danger as she and Nanny lived a pretty mediocre life, they lived in a small town in Oxford and they spent most of their time at home. They had no enemies, Lux had no enemies which is why none of this made any sense. There was no reason for any of this to be happening. "Your life has been in danger since you were born but when you were a few months old your parents were murdered and it became clear that someone was coming for you as well. It wasn't safe for you on our world so we thought that by bringing you to earth that you would be safe here until there was a time where it was safe for you to go home. But she's found you Lux…"

"What are you talking about? W-What do you mean we brought you to earth? I d-don't understand any of this Nanny! None of this makes any sense! This is all crazy Nanny!"

"I know it sounds like it is nonsense but it is the tux, Perxanpe wants you dead and she will not stop until she succeeds." Nanny stressed as she took hold of Lux's hand and this time she pulled her ward with enough force that Lux was unable to prevent Nanny from dragging her along. Lux was helpless as Nanny pulled her along the hall and down the stairs. Just as they were coming down the stairs the front door burst open and in walked these creatures. These ugly and tall creatures that seemed to look like rhinoceros but they were dressed in some weird dark armoured. They were terrifying but before Lux could let out a scream Nanny continued to pull her along down the stairs and towards the kitchen. Once they were in the kitchen Nanny shut the door behind them and pulled Lux into the conservatory. Lux could only watch as Nanny started dragging pieces of future with such ease that didn't seem to be humanly possible to start building some kind of barrier.

"N-Nanny…" Lux stammered as she was so confused and had no idea as to what was going out. There were these monsters who were making these weird noises, these red light that were slowly destroying the kitchen door and Nanny was acting weird. Lux wanted this to be a very bad dream and she prayed that she would wake up from this all quickly.

"You'll be okay Lux, you will be fine as he is coming for you my little firefly. The Doctor is coming from you. But I need you to hide." Nanny urged and Lux didn't know what to do and then something hit Lux, the mention of The Doctor. Lux didn't know any doctor, the only doctor that she sort of knew was The Doctor from Nanny's stories. But he was just a figment of Nanny's imagination. There was no such thing as a doctor that had police box that doubled as a spaceship/time machine. If it wasn't for the weird red lights and those weird creatures who were shooting at them, Lux would have thought that Nanny was having some kind of breakdown.

"Nanny The Doctor isn't real! He's just from one of your stories." Lux stated as best she could as Nanny stopped what she was doing and made her way over to Lux.

"No he isn't Lux, The Doctor is very much real and he is coming for you right now."

"I don't understand Nanny." Lux uttered with a small shake of her head, none of this made any sense at all.

"I know you are confused but everything will make sense to you later on, The Doctor will explain everything to you and he'll take care of you. I trust him with my life Lux so you can trust him, I promise he will keep you safe." Nanny stated as she dropped a velvet pouch into Lux's hands but before Lux could even react, there was a thunderous sound as those creatures, whoever they were had burst into the kitchen. Breaking the door and causing part of the wall to collapse and they resumed shooting again and Nanny pulled Lux through the conservatory and opened the doors leading out to the garden. Lux didn't know what to say or what to think but then this whirling sound came out of nowhere in the midst of all chaos and then come this blue box, it looked like one of those old police call boxed and it was spinning in the air until it had settled down on the ground. The door opened and then a man stepped out, a man in a tweed jacket, a bowtie and a funny sort of looking face with brown floppy hair. Lux barely had time to react when Nanny grabbed her and practically pushed Lux into the weird man's arms.

"Meridus…"

"The Judoon are here doctor, I can keep them busy long enough for you to get away so you need to take her and keep her safe doctor until it is time doctor." Nanny urged and Lux shook her head as she wasn't leaving Nanny, no matter what the hell this crazy stuff was, she wouldn't leave Nanny.

"Meridus." The odd man repeated.

"As Lux's guardian it is my job to protect and keeping her alive is my top priority, I will not fail in my duty to do that. Her survival is what matters most right now doctor" Nanny said and she looked at Lux with a small smile before she stepped away and ran back into the house. Back where all the shooting was happening with all those weird creatures and Lux could only watch in horror as this all unfolded in front of her eyes. The odd man tried to pull Lux away but she was having none of it but then this loud noise came out of nowhere and Lux could only watch as huge blast came from towards the kitchen and the walls of the back of the house began to crumble.

"NANNY!" Lux screamed at the top of her lugs and she tried to push the man away from her but he wouldn't let go, he started dragging her away but Lux just kept kicking and screaming at the top of her lungs. She couldn't leave Nanny, she wouldn't leave her but there was nothing she could do. What happened next Lux wasn't too sure but the next thing she knew was that she was in this weird place, it looked something straight out of a sci-fi book and there was this humming and the odd man was standing at some kind of console. Lux wasn't really sure nor did she care at the moment as right now all she cared about was Nanny. "We have to go back! We have to back for Nanny!"

"Lux I know you will find this hard to believe but Meridus is fine, it is you that we have to worry about!"

"Why do you keep calling her Meridus? Her name is Nanny and those things have her!" Lux yelled but right now she just wanted to cry and she wanted Nanny back But now she was here, with no idea where Nanny was or even where she was and she was with some strange man. "Just who are you?

"The Doctor."


	2. Chapter 2

Lux didn't know what to say, she didn't know what to think as this was all so surreal. The last ten minutes had been insane, these weird creatures had broken into the house, destroyed the kitchen and taken Nanny. Lux had no idea where the hell she was, she had been dragged off by some weird man. An odd looking man with floppy brown hair, a rather odd looking face dressed in a tweed jacket and wearing a bowtie who claimed to be The Doctor. But that couldn't be true, the man in front of her couldn't be The Doctor as he wasn't real. The Doctor wasn't a real person, he didn't exist. He was just some character from one of Nanny's stories, something conjured up from the depths of her imagination to entertain Lux as a child. Not to mention he didn't even look like The Doctor as from what Lux could remember this man didn't look like any of The Doctors that Nanny could describe. Lux could remember being told about many Doctors, the one that always wore a long scarf and had a fondness for jelly babies. There was a Doctor who constantly had a recorder and the funny one who was awfully skinny and a brown suit with pin strips with converses. Lux could remember Nanny scoffing in amusement whenever she spoke of that Doctor. But this man in front of Lux wasn't that Doctor. He wasn't any Doctor because he wasn't real. Luz had to be dreaming, that was the only possible explanation as to why all of this was happening.

"This is a dream, this is some crazy dream I'm having because I had that small chunk of cheese before I went to bed. I should have listened to Nanny about eating just before bed but I just had to have that piece of cheese. Nanny warned me about stuff like this but I chose not to listen because I thought I knew better than her because I'm no longer a child. So now I am having some insane nightmare because I was silly enough to think that I knew better than Nanny! Gosh why I am so silly!" Lux said scolding herself because she knew no matter how much older she got, no matter how many books and classes that she read and attended she would never be smarter than Nanny. It was frankly impossible as Nanny knew practically everything, she was Lux's unreachable idol.

"I'm afraid this isn't a dream Lux."

"Yes this is. I am dreaming, this is all just one being horrendous dream and it's my dream and I should be able to control it. I should be able to wake myself up where everything will be fine, Nanny will be safe and back at home, the kitchen will be fine and this nasty dream will be all forgotten about." Lux told herself as she took a deep breath and closed her eyes, after waiting a few moments Lux opened her eyes and much to her dismay she was still in the weird room with the console and the odd man with the funny face was looking at her with an amused look on his face. Closing her eyes Lux tried again, this time pinching herself to try and make herself wake up but yet she didn't wake up. "Why isn't this working? I should be able to wake myself up from my own dream."

"This isn't a dream Lux." The odd man said and Lux shook her head, she refused to believe that she was wide-awake and all of this was really happening. Lux couldn't allow herself to believe that all of this was really happening, that some weird creatures had destroyed her home and taken Nanny in the process.

"Yes it is!" Lux retorted.

"Well if this is a dream, then you sure have one active imagination Lux! I don't think even I could think up something as amazing as the TARDIS and I am pretty amazing if I do say so myself. The old girl is pretty great too." The odd man said in a rather odd beat manner and Lux wasn't even sure what to say what to make of all of this. Either Lux had lost her mind or this odd man had lost his mind and right now Lux was betting on her being the one who had lost her sanity. This entire thing was giving her such a headache that Lux felt like she needed to lie down for a while as it was all just a bit too much for her. Lux couldn't remember ever having such a vivid dream.

"I don't know who you are or what you want with me or even what you have done with Nanny but you're not The Doctor. He's not real, he doesn't exist let alone the TARDIS. Neither of them are real, they are just part of Nanny's stories…" Lux stated finally finding her voice again, vehemently shaking her head as if that would support what she was saying but it seemed like the odd man wasn't listening to her fully as something had caught his attention and he had this goofy grin on his face.

"Stories? Meridus told you about me?"

"No. Nanny told me stories about the mad man with the blue box–" Lux corrected as this man whoever he claimed to be was not the Doctor, he was just some mad man that her imagination had conjured u

"–Mad man? Whose Meridus calling a mad man?" The odd man loudly replied as if he took great offence to that and Lux didn't know what to do, she was just exhausted by this all with every passing moment. But right now she was just refusing to take up so she would have to go along with this craziness and just hope that her body would decide to wake up soon and she would be back to the real world and away from all this silly nonsense.

"I have had enough of this!" Lux stated in an exasperated manner as all of this was too insane, far beyond any reasonable logic and she wanted to get away from it all. Escape from wherever she currently was and get away from this mad man who was currently off his rocker, babbling about nonsense that Lux did not want to hear in the slightest. Lux attempted to walk away but the odd man grabbed onto her wrist and prevented her from leaving.

"Lux! I know you have no reason to trust me, that you want all of this to be some kind of dream but it's not! This is real just like I am real! I am the Doctor and I can't let you leave here. I know that you are scared, that all of this is scary and you want Meridus, I mean your Nanny but I need you to believe in what I am telling you. That I am the Doctor. But if you can't believe me then I am asking, no I am begging you to believe in what your Nanny told you about me. Please Lux…" The odd man stated and Lux thought back to what had happened earlier, to when she was with in the garden with Nanny. She had been so confused by what was going on but Nanny had said something, something about The Doctor. It was about trusting him and then when the odd man came out of the flying box Nanny had spoke to him like she had known him. She had called him Doctor. Lux looked at the man in front of her and she couldn't help but wonder, was this man really The Doctor? There was only one way to be sure, to confirm whether this man was who he said he was and so Lux looked into his eyes. Nanny had always said that the Doctor changed faces but there was one thing that stayed the same and that was his eyes. The colour and shape may change over time but what was inside the eyes stayed the same. Looking into the Doctor's eyes Lux could see eyes that were old, eyes that had seen the birth of the universe and the end of time. The only person who could have eyes that old on a such a young face had to be The Doctor.

"You really are The Doctor." Lux quietly murmured and she watched as the man in front of her burst into a huge grin. Lux couldn't believe it; that she was really here with the Doctor. He wasn't just something that Nanny had made up to entertain her with stories about when she was younger, he was a real person and Lux was with him.

"Hello Lux." The Doctor replied with a warm smile as he let go of Lux's wrist before taking three large strides over to the console and started pressing buttons and pulling levers. Lux weary followed and watched as The Doctor went about doing several things at one, she was still trying to wrap her head around this entire thing. It was all so surreal and yet amazing at the same time.

"B-But Nanny drew me pictures of all your faces and I've never seen this face." Lux spluttered as she had struggled to decided on what to say to the Doctor, she had wanted it to be something cool. But it had been far from cool and the delivery had been terrible. Lux hadn't stammered like that since she was seven years old and the fact that she was now doing it again at the age of eighteen was frankly quite embarrassing.

"New face I'm afraid, haven't had the chance to see dear old Meridus and let her see! Boy does she love it when I get a new face. She'll be disappointed that I still haven't got red hair yet…" The Doctor yammered and Lux couldn't help but smile as he was just like how Nanny had described him, weird and oddly wonderful and so eclectic. Lux could remember Nanny had once described him as a paradox wrapped up in an enigma. This was the man who Lux had spent her entire childhood growing up to stories about him, listening to stories about his adventures in the TARDIS with his companions and continually saving the universe. Then came the pang. The pang that struck Lux's chest as she thought back to Nanny, her dear sweet Nanny who had told her all those wonderful stories but wasn't here with her in the Doctor's presence. Nanny was gone taken by the horrid creatures and was god knows where.

"Oh god… Nanny!" Lux cried out a she thought of Nanny who had ran back into the house shortly before there was a huge explosion. Lux didn't know what had happened to her, whether Nanny was alive or not. But she had to know, Lux had to find Nanny and make sure that she was okay. Lux couldn't believe that they had just left her behind.

"Lux!

"W-We have to go back Doctor! We have to go back for Nanny!" Lux said as she chocked back at tears as Nanny had to have survived that blast, she couldn't be dead. Lux refused to believe that Nanny was dead. She had to be okay and Lux had to see her. They needed to bring Nanny back with them and make sure that she was safe.

"We can't Lux!" The Doctor stated.

"Why can't we?" Lux demanded.

"Because Meridus won't be there, the Judoon have surely have your Nanny and they would have taken her away from earth at least. But it's okay Lux, your Nanny will be fine, they won't hurt her. I promise you that we will find your Nanny but right now we can't go and find her, the Judoon will be expecting us to come straight after them to rescue her. Which is exactly what we're not going to do. I know your worried but the Judoon won't hurt your Nanny as they need her alive right now." The Doctor explained in a very animated manner, his hands moving in all sorts of directions as he spoke.

"What the hell does that even mean?" Lux asked as she hadn't understood half of what the Doctor had said to her, the way he had gone about that had been very weird and she suspected that she had missed something in the subtext. Lux just didn't exactly know what it was. But this was the Doctor, a person who Nanny trusted with her life and so Lux would do the same.


End file.
